February 2018

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20 FEBRUARY 2018 TECH www.theasianindependent.co.uk Google brings health ‘Symptom Search’ feature to India New Delhi, As more and more people seek Google’s advice first when it comes to health symptoms before visiting a doctor, Google India on Tuesday rolled out its feature called “Symptom Search” in India that lets users find quality health information on their smartphones. In collaboration with a team of doctors from Apollo Hospitals, the tech giant will add tailormade information about commonly-searched symptoms in its Search. When a user searches for symptoms like “cough and pain”, the app will show a list of related conditions (“common cold, acute bronchitis, flu, pneumonia, chest infection”). For individual symptoms like “headache,” the app — currently available in English and Hindi — will show digital cards, providing users an overview description along with information on self-treatment options and what might warrant a doctor’s visit. “This is a significant trend and we are happy to have partnered on this initiative with Google. At Apollo Hospitals, we have always made optimal use of digital technology for the benefit of patients,” Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said in a statement. “With the launch of the ‘Symptom Search Project’, we aim to provide quality healthcare information which can be accessed by a billion Indians,” Reddy added. Notably, the search results are intended for informational purposes only and users should always consult a doctor for medical advice and treatment, Google cautioned. Roughly one per cent of searches on the search are symptom-related and with this, Google aims to help users navigate and explore health conditions related to various symptoms and quickly get to the point where they can talk to a health professional or do more in-depth research on the web. Airtel to deploy Nokia’s predictive machine learning solution Indo Asian | This will help Airtel optimise network utilisation and improve user experience. Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced it is collaborating with Nokia to deploy the latter’s hybrid self organising networks (SON) solution to improve its operational efficiency and service quality. The solution uses predictive Machine Learning (ML) and interworks with analytics platforms, enabling the operator to take proactive action to optimise network utilisation and improve user experience.“Our collaboration with Nokia in taking SON to the next level by integrating it with other data sources and ML capabilities, enables us to proactively address network performance dips and outages even before a customer experiences them,” Abhay Savargaonkar, Director-Networks (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel, said in a statement. “We are confident that our proven expertise will enable Airtel to manage complex multi-technology networks by automatically minimising the risk of human error,” said Sanjay Malik, Head of India Market, Nokia. PNB scam: CII for hi-tech control systems, privatising PSBs New Delhi, In the wake of an alleged Rs 11,300 crore fraud on state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), the Indian industry on Sunday urged for better and hi-tech control systems to check financial frauds as also a gradual decrease in government holding in public sector banks (PSBs). The government should strategically divest its stake in PSBs to 33 per cent in a phased manner and also adopt a twin strategy for tackling financial frauds, including better monitoring and supervision of banks and adoption of best corporate governance standards, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said in a release here. “The government, regulators and industry must act fast to address systemic risks in the financial sector,” CII President Shobana Kamineni said in a statement. “The three key solutions for the banking sector are better management and operational efficiencies, use of technology such as blockchain and big data analytics, and lowering government shareholding in public sector banks,” she said. Noting that technology could Washington, Is it incumbent on an American company to turn over data to law enforcement agencies when demanded even if such data are stored overseas? This issue is at the core of a case involving Microsoft that the the US Supreme Court is set to hear on Tuesday. The case could have far reaching implications with regard to privacy concerns of international customers of American technology companies on the one hand and law enforcement access to digital data on the other. The litigation turns on a be a major enabler for monitoring transactions that are subject to financial fraud and risks, the CII said: “Some banks are already deploying artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain technologies to better regulate their operations.” “It is important to minimize human interface in such transactions to lower the risk of misdemeanours.” The CII President said such instances of collusion between corrupt bank officials and scamsters should not lead to a situation of choking of credit to industry. “It is time for the government to consider consolidation of PSBs and develop a few strong banks which adhere to the best standards in governance, accountability and transparency,” she said. “A road map could be announced for bringing the government stake down to 33 per cent in three to four years, she added. As per the charges filed in diamond merchant Nirav Modi case, bank Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit were used to raise and rollover the money over several years before the fraud came to light following the PNB’s complaint. 1986 law, the Stored Communications Act, passed long before American companies began storing massive amounts of data outside US borders, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. The case began in 2013 when federal agents conducting a drug investigation obtained a warrant for a suspect’s emails. But the emails that they sought were stored in Dublin, Ireland, and Microsoft argued that the warrant could not reach beyond US borders. Microsoft says it stores emails WhatsApp working on a new feature to help users identify, block spam messages The latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android shows two new features being tested. The first feature will show “Forwarded Message” in chats if a spam post has been forwarded from another group. The next feature enables users to send stickers to other chats. WhatsApp’s latest feature will possibly help stop mass-level spam circulation on its platform which often leads to the spread of fake news online. “Forwarded Message” will appear on top of every post that spammers forward to groups en masse. The feature has been spotted by WABetaInfo that follows WhatsApp Google Play Beta Programme in the version 2.18.67. “Today, WhatsApp has modified the behaviour of the feature, that will show on the bubble (when the feature will be enabled in future), a “Forwarded Message” string, if the message has close to their owner in order to make retrieval faster and, according to the tech giant, the Government did not been forwarded from another chat (or from the same chat),” read the information on the website. When a message is forwarded a lot of times, you can notice the label on the bubble. A spammer sends spam messages to multiple users, selecting them in his contacts list, picking these data from the Internet or from some registration services. These messages may contain unwanted advertising and fake news, and they often invite you to forward the message to your contacts. At present, WhatsApp does not block the forwarding of a message more than 25 times. “The spammers may start to forward a new message to bypass the new move but this operation will certainly slow down and discourage them,” said the information. Stickers on WhatsApp have been spotted overtime. With more sightings, it could be possible for this feature to roll out anytime soon. These two features are currently under development. It’s not necessary that WhatsApp will eventually roll out the features for its users. US top court to hear Microsoft case on data protection overseas suggested that the concerned individual resided in the US. Microsoft has framed the case as one of digital privacy. E. Joshua Rosenkranz, who will argue Microsoft’s case, called the government’s position “a recipe for global chaos,” the Post reported. “If ever there were a step that is sure to stoke international tension, it is sidestepping the treaties that were negotiated by countries precisely to protect their sovereignty, and instead unilaterally obtaining reams of personal letters….If another country did this to us, we would be outraged at the most basic level,” Rosenkranz was quoted as saying. Microsoft reportedly has the backing of major US technology giants including Google and IBM. The case centres on the Stored Communications Act’s (SCA) territorial reach, and the government argues that the SCA focuses on the emails’ “disclosure” and that Microsoft employees could retrieve them “without leaving their desks in the United States,” the Post reported.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk WORLD FEBRUARY 2018 21 Brexit will not divide Britain: May London, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday rejected any plans that would mean a Brexit border between Northern Ireland and neighbouring Irish Republic. Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons during her weekly questions, May said no British prime minister could ever agree to a Brexit treaty that would see borders dividing any parts of Britain, reports Xinhua. Responding to a question by the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP David Simpson, May confirmed she will never agree to any trade borders between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain. May said she stood by commitments she has made previously on the border issue. She said the draft legal text the European Commission had published would, if implemented, threaten the constitutional integrity of Britain by creating a customs and regulatory border down the Irish Sea, adding: “No UK prime minister could ever agree to it.” “I will be making it crystal clear to (European Commission) President Jean-Claude Juncker and others that we will never do so,” May added. “We are committed to ensuring that we see no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, but the December text also made clear that there should continue to be trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom as there is today,” she said. Main opposition leader Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn accused May’s government of being in disarray over Brexit. May insisted there was no disagreement with F o r e i g n Secretary Boris Johnson on the Irish border question. “The foreign secretary and I are absolutely committed to ensuring that we deliver no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland,” May told Corbyn. She added: “That’s the position of the British government. It’s the position of the parties in Northern Ireland, it’s the position of the Irish government, and it was what we agreed in the December agreement of that joint report.” Trump stuns lawmakers with gun control embrace Washington, US President Donald Trump stunned Republicans on live television by embracing gun control and urging a group of lawmakers at the White House to resurrect gun safety legislation that has been opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). In a meeting on Wednesday, the President called for comprehensive gun control legislation that would expand background checks to weapons purchased at gun shows and on the internet; keep guns from mentally ill people; secure schools and restrict gun sales for some young adults, reports The New York Times. Trump also suggested that law enforcement authorities should have the power to seize guns from mentally ill people or others who could present a danger without first going to court. “I like taking the guns early,” he said, adding, “Take the guns first, go through due process second.” The declarations prompted a frantic series of calls from NRA lobbyists to their allies on Capitol Hill and a statement from the group calling the ideas that Trump expressed “bad policy”. However, Republican lawmakers suggested that they remained opposed to gun control measures, The New York Times reported. “We’re not ditching any constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn’t like them,” Republican Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, Republican, said in a statement. Democrats also said they were sceptical that Trump would follow through. “The White House can now launch a lobbying campaign to get universal background checks passed, as the president promised in this meeting, or they can sit and do nothing,” said Democrat Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. Elon Musk can put humans on Mars by 2040 : Astronaut London | Elon Musk’s prestigious SpaceX project could accelerate time to help man walk on Mars in just another 20 years or so by 2040, said Tim Peake, a British astronaut, the media reported. Hailing that humanity is about to enter a “very exciting” era of space exploration, Peake, the first British astronaut to be sent to the International Space Station (ISS), said that private investment could speed up the first flight to the Red Planet. “Humans on Mars – I think will be the late 2030s,” Peake was quoted as telling express.co.uk reported late on Monday. “That’s what the government space agencies and the International Space Exploration Group are working towards.” “It could be that some of (these people’s) programmes bring that date forward. But, the late 2030s would be a realistic time frame. “What could throw a big bowling ball through all that is commercial space flight,” Peake noted. Earlier in February, SpaceX successfully launched its world’s most powerful rocket Falcon Heavy, into space. “We have seen the ambitions of people like Elon Musk, there are several other companies that also have ambitions to send people to Mars,” Peake said. “I think that we will end up working very closely with these companies in public-private partnerships when we eventually go to Mars,” he added. In addition, Peake said that the Deep Space Gateway — a space station project led by the ISS partners, including NASA, European Space Agency and Roscosmos (of Russia) — that aims to launch manned missions to Mars will be vital for furthering space exploration. “The Deep Space Gateway paves the way for both lunar landings and, because of the orbit it will be in, for a Mars transportation system,” Peake said. N.Korea helping Syrian chemical war : Report Washington | North Korea has been sending equipment to Syria that could be used in chemical weapons manufacturing, the US media reported citing findings by UN experts. The materials include acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes, the BBC said on Wednesday quoting the media reports. The New York Times quoted the as-yetunreleased UN report that also said that Pyongyang’s missile specialists have been seen at Syrian weapon-making facilities. The allegations come after new reports of chlorine gas being used by Syrian forces came to light. The Syrian government has denied the charges. North Korea is under international sanctions over its nuclear programme. The supplies reported to have been illicitly sent to Syria by Pyongyang included high-heat, acid-resistant tiles, corrosion-resistant valves and thermometers. The tiles are said to be used to construct facilities where chemical weapons are produced, the BBC said. Five shipments were sent to Syria via a Chinese trading firm during late 2016 and early 2017, the Wall Street Journal said. They are allegedly part of dozens of shipments over several years. The Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) — a Syrian government agency — is said to have paid the Kim Jong-un regime via a number of front companies, the newspaper reports. The report, also seen by the Washington Post, was compiled by the UN Panel of Experts, which assesses North Korea’s compliance with UN resolutions, the BBC said. In a September 2017 report, which is publicly available, the group said it was “investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation” between Syria and North Korea. It said that two UN member states had intercepted shipments bound for Syria, and that the goods were suspected to be supplied by North Korea’s main arms exporter as part of a contract with front companies representing the SSRC. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not say whether the leaked report would be published, but told the New York Times: “I think the overarching message is that all member states have a duty and responsibility to abide by the sanctions that are in place.” The Syrian government was reported to have told the UN panel that the only North Koreans present in Syria are sports coaches and athletes. Syria signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to have its declared chemical weapons stock destroyed in 2013 after a sarin gas attack killed hundreds of people in Ghouta. It has been accused of repeatedly using banned chemical weapons in the civil war since then, the BBC said.
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February 2018

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